I believe that God's ways for all of us are so much greater and higher and deeper than we are willing to face. We go "safe" and we settle. God dares us to go and be and feel something new, something different, something bold. We hold ourselves back and talk ourselves out of so many dreams that he has for us.

Pages

Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Living on the Edge.

Here I sit. Yup, in my jammies. Doing emails, looking for houses online, waiting for some responses....drinking my 3-in-1, because if you know me, you know that I can't make coffee. Well, I can't make it and have it taste good.

As I have been forging new friendships down here, it seems to be an interesting dance, that we Christian's do. Slowly, asking......speaking a code of.....'what do you really believe?'

A new friend....who is more like me....blunt is another word for it.....asked me, "Do you think grace is there to let us do what we want?"

Hmmmm. Loaded question. Short answer, no. But short answers don't seem to be good enough.
I knew her and her heart well enough to answer....."I believe like you do. I am very conservative in my beliefs."

I went on to elaborate on today's 'grey areas of Christianity'....blackening my stance....or maybe I should say whitening.

It makes me sad, that we have come to a place, where everything is acceptable, because 'God wants me to be happy.' Or, I 'deserve' to be happy. I don't remember reading that in the Bible. I do remember reading:

I am allowed to do anything- but not everything is good for you. I'm allowed to do anything- but not everything is beneficial. 1 Corinthians 10:23

Now that being said, I do believe that the more conservative of us, have done a crappy job of extending grace instead of legalism.....but I think currently, we just don't know what to do. If we open our mouths we are ostracized or criticized....if we keep our mouths closed.....it implies consent.

And yet, the further we travel on this journey....the closer we get to the edge. One wrong step and we are gone....swept up in a world of....'because there's grace, I can do what I want.'

Grace doesn't allow us to do what we want to do, Grace frees us to do what we are called to do.

When I started driving here, it was no problem.....very easy....after Cambodia.....Mexico driving is NBD. But the one thing that I still don't understand is this:

As you climb the 700 feet to the mission house, there are times when the road is winding and very close to the edge of a steep drop.
And yet, people choose to park along the drop. When driving up them....you make a turn, and there the parked cars are, not allowing you much time to change course. Now add oncoming traffic, (you will notice the car driving ahead is in the wrong lane.)

Not a horrible place to park for yourself....if you are careful. If you don't have a bad day and go to close to the edge to slip down.

Also, when you park there, you make it more difficult for those navigating around you......possibly creating unsafe conditions for them.

So, are you picking up what I'm putting down? Are you getting my mail?

When we live so close to the edge, the easier it is to fall. The more grey we add to our white.....the darker it gets. (Again, I'm not saying that we throw the baby out with the bath water...but live with wisdom)

Also....incase you haven't yet, made the connection......the closer you live to the edge....the more you affect people around you....who are on the same journey.....especially new drivers.

A question that we have stopped asking is this: What is God's best for you? Not.....what do I deserve.....
I used to ask youth groups.....if you could choose...which do you think you would want....God's good for you....God's better for you.....or God's best for you?
I know which one God would choose.
What about you?
So, where are you endeavouring to drive? Are you living near the edge....or as close to the mountain as possible? Where will you end up if an accident comes.......just banged up....or over the edge?